vol. 54, no. 6

aclu news

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA

Volume LIV

August-September 1990

No. 6

Historic Victory for Medi-Cal Abortion Funding

A

or the first time in 13 years, there

F are no restrictions on Medi-Cal

funding for abortion in the state

budget. "This marks the end of a twelve-

year era of unconstitutional state bud-

gets," said ACLU-NC staff attomey

Margaret Crosby.

"We commend legislators who have

respected the privacy rights of indigent

women and teenagers in California and

have put an end to the lawsuits that pro-

choice advocates were compelled to bring

each year to protect the right to choose

abortion."

' Every year since 1978, Crosby has

successfully challenged the Legislature's

cuts in Medi-Cal abortion funding: those

cuts would have prevented 100,000 wom-

en - 1/4 of them teenagers - each year

from exercising their right to choose an

abortion. :

In 1981, in the ACLU-NC lawsuit

CDRR y. Myers, the California Supreme

Court ruled that the cuts were unconstitu-

tional and that if the state funds childbirth,

it must also fund abortion.

Despite that landmark ruling, the

Legislature and the Governor persisted in

severely restricting Medi-Cal abortion

funds in the annual Budget Act. The funds

have only been maintained because of the

annual ACLU-NC lawsuits.

According to ACLU Legislative

Director Margaret Pefia, the California

Coalition for Reproductive Freedom

"worked indefatigably to secure historic

budget votes" in June from the state

Assembly (33-4) and Senate (24-12)

which restored full and unrestricted fund-

ing for Medi-Cal abortions for the first

time in 13 years.

When Assemblymember Phil Wyman

(R-Bakersfield) introduced a motion to re-

strict Medi-Cal funding of abortion on

July 19 during one of the final votes on

the Budget Act, pro-choice legislators re-

soundingly defeated the measure 42-23 in

the Assembly.

Brutal cuts

The Medi-Cal funding victory came in

the midst of a budget which is over-

to preserve Medi-Cal abortion funds.

The California Pro-Choice Coalition's massive January 22 rally in Sacramento, launched a statewide grassroots lobbying effort

Ann Rushing

whelmingly characterized by brutal cuts in

medical and mental health care, child wel-

fare and nutrition, housing and other social

services. "Despite lengthy delays, politi-

cial disputes and painful cuts that charac-

terized passage of the 1990 Budget Act,

this quiet but significant victory occurred,"

said Norma Clevenger, Executive Director

of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of

California and Chair of the California

Coalition for Reproductive Freedom.

Chris Winter, President of the

American Association of University

Women agreed: "This year's budget is a

paradox. It is a victory for poor women's

reproductive rights, but a disaster for other

services to the poor, the disabled and for

the children supported by AFDC. We look

to the future for more humane and com-

passionate budgets," she added.

The restoration of Medi-Cal abortion

funds in the state budget reflects a major

political victory in the battle for abortion

rights. In the wake of the U.S. Supreme

Court's 1989 Webster decision, numerous

state legislatures introduced measures

which severely restrict a woman's right to

choose.

At a massive Roe v. Wade commemo-

rative rally at the state Capitol on January

22, organized by Pefia for the Coalition,

pro-choice advocates launched a lobbying

campaign with abortion funding as a top

priority. The ACLU-NC Pro-Choice

Action Campaign and other pro-choice ac-

tivists maintained intensive grassroots and

legislative lobbying efforts throughout the

spring and summer.

Susan Kennedy, Executive Director of

the Califora Abortion Rights Action

League, said of the Budget, "This marks a

pivotal point in the pro-choice movement

in California. We continue to live in dan-

gerous times. But with pro-choice voters

holding their legislators accountable, we

have the political power to secure Medi-

Cal funding for poor women."

In California, approximately 311,720

women obtained abortions in 1988; 27%

of these were funded by Medi-Cal. The

number of Medi-Cal abortions in 1988

(84,148) reflects a 20% decrease from the

1977 total of 105,550 (the greatest number

ever.) Teenage abortions accounted for

25% of the total number of Medi-Cal

funded abortions in 1988, down from 31%

in 1980.

San Francisco Sued Over

Mt. Davidson Cross

epresentatives of the many relig-

R ious communities that come to-

gether in San Francisco -

Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, and others -

filed a lawsuit on June 28 charging that

the City`s ownership and display of a

cross on Mt. Davidson, a San Francisco

public park, violate the state and federal

Constitution's prohibition on government

endorsement of religion.. The diverse

group of plaintiffs, represented by attor-

neys from the ACLU-NC, the American

Jewish Congress and Americans United

for Separation of Church and State, asked

the U.S. District Court to declare the gov-

emmment`s maintenance of the cross in the

park unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs, who spoke about their

concerns at a press conference at San

Francisco`s First Unitarian Church, in-

cluded Reverend Victor Carpenter, minis-

ter of the First Unitarian Church,

Reverend James Lowder, pastor of

Dolores Street Baptist Church, Rabbi

Allen B. Bennett, Regional Executive

Director of the American Jewish

Congress, and Professor Ronald

Nakasone, a Buddhist priest and Assistant

Dean of Students at the Institute of

Buddhist Studies as well as San

Franciscans who live and work in view of

the towering religious symbol.

According to Thomas Steel, attorney

for Americans United for the Separation

of Church and State, "Individuals of many

faiths have brought this suit to stop San

Francisco officials from violating the re-

ligious liberty of people who live and

work in the City by using park property to

communicate a clear governmental en-

dorsement of Christianity."

San Francisco government officials

own, maintain and display a cross - the

preeminent symbol of the Christian relig-

ion - on top of Mt. Davidson, a public

park in San Francisco.

The lawsuit alleges that "the City`s

ownership, maintenance and prominent

display of the cross on public land consti-

Continued on page 7

Save the Date!

aciu news

aug-sept 1990

Racial Harassment and the First Amendment

Policy Concerning Racist

and Other Group-Based

Harassment on College

Campuses

he ACLU has always been commit-

ted to protecting freedom of speech

to guarantee the free exchange of

ideas. This commitment includes the pro-

tection of speech which expresses unpopu-

lar or abhorrent ideas, or uses language or

modes of communication which are offen-

sive. Nowhere is this protection of greater

importance than on our college campuses,

where the free exchange of ideas fosters

knowledge, individual growth, and toler-

ance for new and different ideas. As the

Supreme Court has observed, "The college

classroom with its surrounding environs is

peculiarly "the marketplace of ideas."

At the same time, the ACLU-NC is al-

so committed to the proposition that on

college campuses, full participation in the

educational process must be available on a

nondiscriminatory basis to all, regardless

of race, sex, religion, national origin, sexu-

al preference, disability or membership in

any other traditionally disadvantaged mi-

nority group. If minority students are

forced to endure harassment directed at

them as minority group members by other

students or by college staff or `teachers,

they may be functionally excluded from

such full participation. If sufficiently se-

vere Or pervasive, exposure to hostile ex-

pression based on group membership can

deny these students their right to full par-

ticipation in the educational process, with

the result that historic patterns of discrimi-

nation are perpetuated, contrary to the con-

Stitutional objective of equal protection.

In light of the First Amendment con-

siderations outlined above, however, any

attempt to punish such harassment must be

carefully drawn so as to address the severe

or pervasive nature of the conduct as di-

rectly as possible, and to avoid infringe-

ment on the First Amendment protected

expression of even repugnant ideas. In par-

ticular, campus policy should not bar the

ability of professors to teach their philoso-

phies or students to express their views no

matter how offensive, but must be used in-

stead focus on speech or expression used

as a weapon to harass specific victims on

the basis of their protected status.

Accordingly, the ACLU enacts the fol-

lowing policy:

Campus administrators are obligat-

ed to take all steps necessary within con-

stitutional bounds to minimize and

eliminate a hostile educational environ-

ment which impairs the access of pro-

tected minorities to equal educational

opportunities. Campus administrators

must: speak out vigorously against ex-

pressions of hatred or contempt based

on race, color, national or ethnic origin,

alienage, sex, religion, sexual orienta-

tion or disability; promote equality and

mutual accommodation and_ under-

standing among these groups and the

balance of the community (including

steps to assure diversity within the fa-

culty, administration, staff and student

body and to incorporate into the curric-

ulum and extra-curricular activities ed-

ucational efforts to reduce racism and

other forms of discrimination); and

eliminate discriminatory educational

policies, practices, and procedures that

exist on the campuses.

Campus administrators may not,

however, enact campus codes of

conduct prohibiting discriminatory ha-

rassment of students, faculty, adminis-

trators and staff on the basis of speech

or expression unless at a minimum all of

the following conditions are met:

1. The code of conduct reaches only

speech or expression that:

a) is specifically intended to and does

harass an individual or specific individ-

uals on the basis of their sex, race, color

disability, religion, sexual orientation,

alienage, or national and ethnic origin;

and

b) is addressed directly to the indi-

vidual or individuals to whom it harass-

es; and

c) creates a hostile and intimidating

environment which the speaker reason-

ably knows or should know will serious-

ly and directly impede the educational

opportunities of the individual or indi-

viduals to whom it is directly addressed;

and

2. The code of conduct is enforced in

a manner consistent with due process

protections (including the right of any

individual charged with violation to no-

tice and a hearing), contains specific il-

lustrations of expected occurrences

which demonstrate when the policy does

or does not apply, is proportionate to

the gravity of the violation, and does not

impose prior restraint upon expression.

Free Speech Doesn't Include

Harassment

by Mary Ellen Gale

1 wo black students return to their

dormitory room at a major state

university and find the initials

"KKK" scratched on the door and words of

racist hatred scrawled on the mirror inside.

At another prestigious public college, a

band of white male students follows a

small group of black women students

across campus and shouts sexist and racist

remarks which suggest the imminent possi-

bility of gang rape.

These are only two among hundreds of

similar incidents reported at American col-

leges and universities in the last four years.

They exemplify the reasons why the

California ACLU affiliates adopted a poli-

cy that condemns racist and sexist harass-

ment on college campus, encourages

universities to use their educational re-

sources to combat prejudice, and establish-

es civil liberties criteria for determining

whether university restrictions on harass-

ment violate the First Amendment protec-

tion of free speech.

In adopting that policy, we have not re-

nounced our commitment to free expres-

_ sion or carved out exceptions to the First

Amendment. Our policy does not address

public speeches or demonstrations, class-

room discussions, offensive remarks, flag

desecration, rap music, pornography, or

political or artistic expression of any kind.

We continue to believe that all of them are

fully protected. :

Instead, our policy focuses narrowly on

harassment of students on campuses - di-

rect personal assault on specific individu-

als - so severe or pervasive that it

interferes with their Fourteenth

Amendment right to an equal education: a

right that, like free speech, is both constitu-

tionally guaranteed and fundamental to

American democracy.

Most areas of a college campus func-

tion more like a workplace than a public

forum. Federal civil rights laws - laws

the ACLU has long supported - protect

employees from racial or sexual harass-

ment that unreasonably interferes with

their performance on the job or creates a

hostile working environment. Most

Americans now agree that discriminatory

threats of violence and verbal assaults di-

rected against individuals can prevent them

from exercising their right to make a living

and build a career. Students too are enti-

tled to an environment that helps them to

do their best work and encourages them to

contribute to the dialogue and dispute that

characterize meaningful education.

Offensive speech - in classroom dis-

cussion, public debate, or private conversa-

tion - is something they must endure or

challenge with speech of their own; ha-

rassment that threatens personal safety and

educational opportunity is not. :

Although most harassment is directed

against racial or religious minorities, wom-

en, gays and lesbians, or members of other

historically disadvantaged groups, we rec-

ognize that heterosexual white males may

also be victims. Our policy is neutrally

written to include them as well.

Nonetheless, contending that we have

abandoned the First Amendment, some

critics distort our policy in order to attack

it. Far from approving any campus re-

strictions on the right to speak, we strong-

ly disagree with all those we have seen.

Nor does our policy apply simply be-

cause a person "feels harassed." We con-

done a university's choice to impose

regulations only if harassment is apparent

to specific individuals, only if it is based

on the victim's race, sex, religion, sexual -

orientation, national or ethnic origin, al-

ienage, or disability, only if it actually

creates a hostile and intimidating envi-

ronment, and only if the speaker intends

the harassment and must have known that

it seriously interferes with the victim's

educational rights. None of these stan-

dards is vague or expansive. All of them

stem from existing civil rights laws that

have long been held to comply with the

First Amendment.

Although opponents of the policy list

a "parade of theoreticals" to discredit our

policy, none of them is relevant.

Unpleasant, insulting, or offensive re-

marks, even ridicule, are not the same as

discriminatory harassment of individuals.

The difference is illustrated by the inci-

dents described in the first paragraph -

incidents which might reasonably fright-

en any victims and damage their ability

to pursue their education, to express their

Own opinions, and to participate fully and

equally in campus life.

Some might argue that colleges and

universities should do nothing to punish

discriminatory abuse of students because

it is too difficult to draw lines between

protected and unprotected speech. But

Justice Holmes - an advocate of com-

mon sense as well as of free speech -

wrote that even a dog knows the differ-

ence between being kicked and being

stumbled over. Presumably, then, even a

court Or a campus administrator can dif-

ferentiate between offensive speech and

discriminatory harassment. And we can

distinguish unconstitutional rules that

suppress expressions of ideas, opinions,

facts, and feelings from constitutional

rules that prohibit assaultive verbal con-

duct. We can protect students' rights to

both free speech and _ educational

equality. o

The struggle to empower women and

minorities-is deeply entwined with the

struggle for civil liberties. All our hopes

to replace racism and sexism with justice

and equality depend on rights of free ex-

pression. We must open our discourse to

dissonant voices, to combat prejudice and

to enrich our lives.

Mary Ellen Gale, a professor at

Whittier College School of Law, is the

former President of the ACLU of

Southern California. She is a member of

the Boards of Directors of the ACLU-SC

and the national ACLU.

aclu news

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September and November-December.

Published by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

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Membership $20 and up, of which 50 cents is for a subscription to the aclu news and

50 cents is for the national ACLU-bi-monthly publication, Civil Liberties.

aclu news

aug-sept 1990 3

Pro-Choice Activists Protest Parental

Notice Ruling

alling the U.S. Supreme Court de-

C cisions upholding parental notifi-

cation requirements for teenage

abortions "disastrous," ACLU-NC staff

attorney Margaret Crosby asserted that

"here in California a teenager's right to

abortion is still assured by the California

Constitution.

"The parental consent law has not

gone into effect in California," Crosby

said, "because our state courts have not :

been willing to experiment with young

girls' lives."

Crosby, who won an_ injunction

against the 1987 California parental con-

sent law which prevented that law from

being implemented, spoke at a June 25 |

press conference called to respond to that

day's U.S. Supreme Court decisions in

Hodgson and Akron, two rulings in which

stringent parental notification laws in

Minnesota and Ohio were upheld by the

high court.

Other pro-choice leaders at the press

conference joined Crosby in denouncing

the decisions.

Charlotte Newhart of the American

Academy of Pediatrics stated, "There is a

200% greater risk of death in pregnancy

for teens than adults, yet with this ruling

some doctors will not have the capacity to

do anything about it."

"The U.S. Supreme Court has willing-

ly issued an order that threatens the lives

of young women," asserted Helen Grieco

of NOW, citing the case of 17-year old

Becky Bell who died from an illegal abor-

tion last year because she could not face

telling her parents that she was pregnant.

Maria Blanco of the Bay Area

Coalition for Civil Rights denounced the

decision as "an attack on poor women and

women of color whose rights to reproduc-

tive freedom have been _ severely

jeopardized."

Maya Werner (center) and other members of Teens for Abortion Rights joined a spirited rally at San Francisco's Federal

Building on June 25 to protest the U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Ann Rushing

"The message of this decision goes

far beyond the rights of teenagers,"

argued Susan Kennedy of the California

Abortion Rights Action League

(CARAL). "These decisions eroding the

rights of minors and the Webster decision

restricting public funding of abortion are

smokescreen attempts to limit the right to

choose.

"The willingness of Justice Sandra

Day O'Connor to undermine reproduc-

tive freedom shows that we cannot count

on the courts to defend the right to

choose," Kennedy said. "We must gp to

the polls."

Later that day, hundreds of demon-

strators from the ACLU-NC Pro-Choice

Action Campaign, the Bay Area Pro-

Choice Coalition, NOW, CARAL,

Planned Parenthood and other groups ral-

lied at the Federal Building; their mes-

sage - "We will not allow the court to

turn the clock back on _ reproductive

rights!"

California's parental consent law,

passed by the Legislature in 1987, has

never gone into effect because of a suc-

cessful lawsuit, American Academy of

Pediatrics v. Van De Kamp, filed by the

ACLU-NC and the Adolescent Health

Care Project of the National Center for

Youth Law.

In October 1989, the state Court of

Appeal upheld a lower court ruling block-

ing the law requiring teenagers to obtain

parental consent or a court order before

having an abortion.

The appeal court ruled that the

California Constitution includes an inde-

pendent right to choose abortion, which

the state can infringe only if it shows a

compelling purpose. The case has now

been returned to superior court for trial to

see whether the state can meet its burden

of proving that the law promotes a com-

pelling state interest. No trial date has

been set.

Great America on the Fourth of July -

Kicking Out Black, Latino and Asian Youths

isitors to Great America on the 4th

V of July could hardly expect to be

questioned about their ethnic ori-

gin and thrown out of the amusement park

because of their race or style of dress. But

that's exactly what happened to two teen-

age cousins who planned to enjoy their

Independence Day holiday at the popular

Santa Clara amusement park.

Theirs was not an isolated experience.

At least a dozen other young Latino,

African American and Asian males con-

tacted local civil rights organizations

charging that they had been detained,

questioned and ejected from Great

America over the summer. Others have

been denied admission after having been

identified by park security guards as "gang

members."

"The identification of these individuals

as "gang members' appears to be based, at

best, on stereotypic profiles featuring

clothing and racial background," said

Manuel Romero, Regional Counsel for the

Mexican American Defense and Education

Fund (MALDEF).

"We believe these practices violate the

Unruh Civil Rights Act," said ACLU-NC

staff counsel Ed Chen, "which prohibits

arbitrary and discriminatory exclusion

from accommodations, facilities, and ser-

vices in all business establishments. Great

America's practices may also violate other

anti-discrimination provisions of

California law," he added.Romero and

Chen, along with representatives of the

NAACP, the Lawyers Committee for

Urban Affairs, and the League of United

Latin American Citizens as well as parents

of a number of the ejected youths have de-

manded a meeting with Al Weber, General

Manager of Great America in an effort to

halt the discriminatory practice.

The two cousins, 16-year old Roger

Prieto from El Sobrante and 19-year old

Anthony Scozzari of Hayward, both of

Mexican descent, visited Great America on

the Fourth of July. Prieto was questioned

about his nationality by a security guard.

When his older cousin came over to find

out what was going on, both were forcibly

ejected from the park after demanding to.

see the manager. As they left Great

America they were arrested for trespassing

by a Santa Clara police officer.

That same holiday, brothers Oscar

Calix (16) and John Contreras (18) were

accused by security guards of "looking like

gang members" and then arrested for

trespassing.

Also on the the Fourth of July, five

young black men were stopped by two se-

curity guards even before they got to the

entrance of Great America. After telling

the guards what city they came from -

East Palo Alto - they were denied

admission.

According to several of the youths,

Great America admitted to ejecting 200

teens on the Fourth of July alone. On July

7, 13-year old Hugo Lugo, a Latino, was

accused by a security guard of being a

gang member because of his clothing and

was arrested for trespassing.

"Despite phone calls from parents and

negative press coverage, these racist prac-

tices continue," said Chen. He spoke of an

incident on August 3 where 17-year old

Abraham Navarro and Michael Gonzales,

both of whom are of Filipino, European

and Latino descent, were stopped by secur-

ity guards because "they had given a cer-

tain look" to a group of Latino youths who

were congregating nearby them. Navarro

and Gonzales were wearing black jackets,

acid washed jeans andcaps. _

The guard accused Navarro of "crip-

ping" his jacket, i.e., wearing it off his

shoulders. Both boys were frisked, told to

remove their Raiders caps and empty their

pockets, and searched with a metal detec-

tor. They were then told they had to leave

Great America because of their attitude

(the "look") and their "gang attire."

When Navarro's mother, Lillian

Garcia, came to pick the boys up, she was

told that her son had done nothing wrong

but "he fit the gang profile."Garcia noted

that many white youths who were at Great

America were also wearing black jackets

and acid washed jeans - yet none of them

were being stopped by security guards.

The civil rights organizations and the

youths' families have started a petition

drive calling on Great America to halt

these racist practices.

Chen said that the parents and civil

rights attorneys have also called for an im-

mediate meeting with the general manager

of Great America. "If Great America per-

sists in discriminating against minority

youths, we are prepared to go to court," he

said.

AIDS Ad OK'ed by PUC

t a charged hearing of the San

Francisco Public Utilities

Commission, the agency voted

unanimously to allow the San Francisco

AIDS Foundation to post AIDS prevention

posters featuring a semi-clad male model

at various MUNI bus stops around the

city.

"The man of my dreams is a rubber-

man" billboard was created by the AIDS

Foundation as part of a public education

campaign encouraging the use of condoms

to reduce the spread of AIDS.

`of noncommercial _ billboards,"

The hearing was necessitated by a re-

quest from PUC General Manager Thomas

Elzey who wanted "more acceptable" ad

copy for the campaign.

"It would set an extremely dangerous

precedent for the ~ Public Utilities

Commission to start censoring the content

said

ACLU-NC Executive Director at the June

PUC hearing.

The billboards went up at MUNI sta-

tions in San Francisco in July.

aclu news

aug-sept 1990

hen you're in a war, the is-

sue is not to treat the ene-

my, but to capture, subdue

and punish. It's no wonder that the budget

for the administration's `War on Drugs'

provides 76% of the funds for law enforce-

ment and only 23% for treatment."

With this powerful parallel of the

1960's Vietnam War to the 1990's War on

Drugs, keynote speaker Dr. Troy Duster,

Director of the Institute for the Study of

Social Change at UC Berkeley, opened the

ACLU Annual Conference on the week-

end of July 6 - 8.

The theme of the Conference, which

drew 200 ACLU activists and supporters

from all over northern California, was

"Everything Old is New Again - Civil

Liberties in the 90's". The theme was un-

derscored by the site, U.C. Berkeley,

home of the 1960's Free Speech

Movement which gave rise to student and

popular protests around the country three

decades ago.

But Duster, who tackled two of the

very tough issues of the 90's - the drug

war and racism on campuses - also

warned against "seeing the 60's as a meas-

uring stick."

"Each decade has its own social and

Entertainment was provided by ACLU-NC Board Chair

Lee Halterman in his role as lead vocalist for the rhythm

and blues band Third Party.

~ 1990 ACLU Ann

commitment to fighting racism in all its

forms.

"It still means people are free to ex-

~ press offensive ideas," Jennings said.

Panelist Margaret Russell gave a mov-

ing account of racist incidents on college

campuses around the country - ranging

from the University of Texas where white -

students threw a black student out of a

window, to a cross burning at the

University of Alabama and the destruction

of anti-apartheid demonstrators' mock

shanties at Dartmouth. "There is a close

link between words and violent assault,"

Russell asserted.

But panelist David Balabanian disa-

greed: "What is addressed in the policy is

not acts of violence but expression," he

said. "Free speech may be unruly and disa-

greeable, but it is better than vesting in

anyone - even esteemed university deans

- the right to decide

what can be said. The

answer to bad speech is

not less speech, but

more speech."

ACLU-NC Chair

Lee Halterman, address-

ing the history of the

lengthy and _ thorny

Board discussions which

led to the final policy,

stated, "I argue that we

stand to defend not only

the First Amendment,

but all of the Bill of

Rights. If we focus on

speech rights only, we

would ignore other

rights.

"The ACLU has a

special responsbility to

show how we can ensure

equal rights for all,"

Halterman said.

Listing other exam-

ples of ACLU policies

where First Amendment

rights are in conflict

with other rights - such

as sexual harassment at

the workplace and ex-

clusion of media from

trials if the defendant

objects, Halterman con-

cluded, "Are these rights

more important than the

rights of minority stu-

political realities," he warned, "and the

ACLU must texture civil liberties to this

unique period in our history," he said.

Duster's warning echoed throughout

the Conference, as plenary sessions and

workshops cast a current light on some

perennial civil liberties struggles - crea-

tive responses to racism, sexism, and ho-

mophobia, the battle for reproductive

rights, economic justice, lesbian and gay

rights, police abuse, and the death penalty.

The opening plenary session was a

two-part panel discussion entitled "Can

Free Speech and Equal Opportunity Co-

Exist on our Campuses?" Panelists of the

first discussion, all members of the

ACLU-NC Board of Directors, tackled the

topic of "The ACLU, `Fighting Words'

Policies, and Regulating Harassing

Speech."

The centerpiece of the discussion was

the new ACLU-NC policy, passed by the

Board in March and subsequently passed

by the two other ACLU affiliates in

California, addressing racist and other

group-based harassment on college cam-

puses (see article page 2).

Fighting racism

In her opening remarks, panel modera-

tor Anne Jennings noted, "Whites have in-

ternalized the logic of the U.S. Supreme

Court - if it's not intentional, it's not ra-

cist. Our policy represents the ACLU's

dents to an _ equal

education?"

Creative responses

Following a lively audience discus-

sion, the second half of the panel ad-

dressed creative responses to racism,

sexism and homophobia. The panel, mod-

erated by Executive Director Dorothy

Board members (l.-r.) Lee Halterman, David Balabanian, Anne Jennings and

Margaret Russell debated the new ACLU-NC policy on racial harassment on

campuses.

Ehrlich, included experts from around the

country who share a wealth of organizing

experiences. Galen Kirkland, the Political

Director of the Community Services

' Agency in New York City, spoke of his

work co-teaching (with Norm Siegel of

the New York ACLU) a year-long class on

racism at a majority-white high school in

Brooklyn.

"The course," he explained, "grew out

of a crisis in race relations that erupted in

for the panel on student activism.

Donna Ozawa and Alfonso Diaz discussed their work with lesbian and gay youth

New York in the last few years, and the

shock that we felt as a result of the north-

em racial lynching in Howard Beach.

"Since 1986," Kirkland noted, "there

has been a 100% increase in bias-related

incidents - 70% of them committed by

youths aged 19 and under," thus the deci-

sion to focus on high school students.

Their course, ""What is Racism?", at New

Utrecht High School in Brooklyn, drew an

overwhelmingly positive response from all

Conference organizer Marcia Gallo, assisted by Program Secretary Michele

Hurtado (standing, with sunglasses) and intern Ashley Dunning registered ACLU

members for the conference.

students who, he explained, "had a surpris-

ing level of ignorance as to what went on

in the 60's."

"At the end of the course, 83% of the

students said they were `more likely to

speak out against racism,' and now we are

planning to expand the program by send-

ing biracial teams to 15 schools in New

York," Kirkland said.

Geneva Fernandez, coordinator of the

Speakers Bureau for San Francisco's

Community United Against Violence,

trains lesbians and gay men to speak in

high schools about homophobia, racism,

and the the struggle for gay and lesbian

rights. She also noted a encouragingly pos-

itive response from her audiences of high

school students.

Panelist Nancy Murray, Director of the

Bill of Rights Education Project at the

Massachusetts ACLU, spoke of her inno-

vative work in training teachers to combat

racism. Murray also visits high school

classes and organizes day-long conferenc-

es for students - such as the recent "Rap

Against Racism" event involving students

nual Conference

Reproductive rights panelists (1.-r.) Veena Cabreras-Sud, Margaret Crosby, Marty

Jessup and Dr. Ben Majors.

from 500 schools.

"I speak a lot about the civil rights

movement," Murray said, "because you

can give hope by teaching the history of

civil rights - that movement was a cata-

lyst for change in the rest of society."

Student activists

The theme echoed through the after-

noon plenary, "Student Activism - Alive

Duster.

Impact of Reaganism

Panelist Manuel Romero, Chair of the

Higher Education Task Force of the Bay

Area Civil Rights Coalition, charged,

"Reaganism had a tremendous impact on

higher education: it put the anti-racist

movement on the defensive."

Romero stressed the importance of

building coalitions between students, the

community and labor to "take the offen-

Field Committee Chair Dick Grosboll (right) introduced keynote speaker Dr. Troy

and Well!", as students and young people

talked about their experiences organizing

on civil rights issues on campuses and in

youth organizations. Victoria Peterson of

the Student Pro-Choice Coalition at San-

Francisco State spoke of building a multi-

racial organization on campus to fight for

reproductive rights. Lesbian activist Donna

Ozawa and Alfonso Diaz of LYRIC,

Lavendar Youth Recreation and

Information Center, stressed the impor-

tance of providing young gay men and

women a place to talk frankly about their

sexuality.

"Lesbian and gay youth have a three

times greater risk of suicide than others

their age," said Ozawa, a founder of

LYRIC. "They face more intense isolation

when they have no peers with whom to

discuss their problems."

Annual Conference photos by

Ann Rushing.

sive as we struggle for equality and justice

in institutions of higher learning."

Issue workshops on the fight for lesbi-

an and gay rights, constitutional casualties

in the War on Drugs, fighting for housing,

health care and economic justice, and or-

ganizing citizen review of the police drew

packed houses as ACLU staffers and other

experts spoke of how these issues would

take shape over the next decade.

At organizing workshops on fundrais-

ing and "how to spot a good ACLU case",

chapter activists, complaint counselors and

attorneys shared experiences.

An outdoor evening plenary on the fu-

ture of reproductive rights featured

ACLU-NC - staff attorney Margaret

Crosby, Marty Jessup, President of

California Advocates for Pregnant

Women, Dr. Ben Majors of Planned

Parenthood, and Veena Cabreras-Sud,

founder of Students Organizing Students

in New York addressing the future of re-

productive rights from legal, medical, so-

aclu news

aug-sept 1990 5

Webster.

Cabreras-Sud inspired the audience

with her efforts in organizing a national

network of young women to take a leader-

ship role in the fight for reproductive

rights. One of SOS's most successful and

highly publicized campaigns was_ the

dumping of thousands of pounds of pota-

toes on the steps of the Idaho state Capitol

to protest the passage of a restrictive abor-

tion law by a tangible warning of a poten-

tial boycott of that state's most important

product. :

The final plenary dealt with a topic that

dominated the ACLU agenda this spring

- the death penalty. The panel, moderated

by Nancy Pemberton, Chair of the ACLU-

NC Death Penalty Action Campaign,

brought together a unique panel of experts

who spoke about the death penalty from

very different perspectives.

ACLU-NC_ Death Penalty Project

Director Michael Laurence, an attorney for

Robert Harris, spoke dramatically of the

last minute legal attempts which success-

fully staved off the first scheduled execu-

tion in California in 23 years.

Margot Garey, an Alameda County

Public Defender, analyzed a study she had

prepared showing the cost of the state tak-

ing a life. "Capital cases cost more because

they are different from any other form of

punishment, and therefore include many

The plenary exploring new arguments against the death penalty included (.-r.) Ron

Hampton, Esta Soler, Margot Garey, Michael Laurence and Nancy Pemberton.

cial, and economic perspectives.

Crosby's warming about "the `fetal

rights movement', which attempts to con-

trol pregnant women for behavior deemed

dangerous to the fetus" was reiterated by

Jessup who spoke of such measures as

Senator Pete Wilson's Prevention of Child

Abuse During Pregnancy Act.

Restrictive abortion laws

Crosby noted that in addition to numer-

ous proposals to prosecute pregnant ad-

dicts, a slew of laws eroding all aspects of

reproductive choice had followed the U.S.

Supreme Court's 1989 decision in

Panelists Nancy Murray, Galen Kirkland, Geneva Fernandez and Dorothy Ehrlich

spoke of creative responses to racism, sexism and homophobia.

procedural safeguards," she explained, de-

lineating the pre-trial, trial, appeal, and

post-conviction costs.

"In California," she noted, "the cost of

life imprisonment based on an estimated

lifespan of 40 years in prison costs

$930,000. An execution would cost $15

million.

"This process cannot be streamlined,"

Garey insisted, "because of the danger of

execution of innocent people." :

Cycle of violence -

The successful Harris defense focused

attention on the impact of prenatal and ear-

ly childhood abuse on the mental capacity

of an adult offender and Esta Soler,

Director of San Francisco's Family

Violence Project asserted that "children

who witness or suffer violence are at much

higher risk of committing violent acts as

adults."

Soler noted that domestic violence

homicide is the single most common cause

of murder (double that of drug crimes) and

that more women are maimed and mur-

dered by family violence than by auto ac-

cidents. "Although family violence is the

major cause of many other social prob-

lems," she said, "yet, it is never mentioned

in polls as a major problem."

"We can change this situation with

more resources, but Governor Deukmejian

_ has tried to cut child abuse funds from. the

state budget," Soler charged. "If we don't

do something about this problem, the cli-

ents that are ours today will be the

ACLU's tomorrow."

Washington D.C policeman Ron

Hampton, Director of the National Black

Continued on page 8

aciu news

aug-sept 1990

Civil Rights Act Still Threatened by Bush

upporters of the Civil Rights Act of

1990 rejoiced on August 3 when the

House of Representatives passed

S

the historic measure by a vote of 272-154. -

The bill, which would restore key anti-

discrimination rights taken away by a se-

ries of U.S. Supreme Court decisions in

1989, was passed by the Senate in July by

a vote of 65-34.

The measure still faces a possible veto

by President Bush who has consistently

opposed the measure and exerted influ-

ence over Republican members of

Congress to vote against it.

. The ACLU-NC has been working hard

for passage of the bill through the Bay

Area Coalition for Civil Rights, which has

made the sweeping civil rights legislation

a top priority for this year. "In light of the

pressure from the Administration, we are

especially pleased that Representative

Tom Campbell (R-Sunnyvale) heeded the

demands of Bay Area civil rights activists

and voted for the bill despite pressure

from the White House," said ACLU-NC

Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich.

ACLU-NC members from the Mid-

Peninsula and North Peninsula Chapters

lobbied Campbell before the crucial vote.

On June 19, over a hundred supporters

from the Bay Area Civil Rights Coalition

picketed the San Francisco offices of

Senator Pete Wilson because of his refusal

to. meet with civil rights leaders in

California about the bill. Representatives

of four civil rights coalitions around the

State, representing more than a million

New Board

Members

he following have been elected as

: members of the ACLU-NC Board

of Directors in the 1990 elections

(* denotes incumbent): David M. Balaban-

jian*, Barbara Brenner, Antonio G.

Gonzalez*, Debbie Lee*, Tom Lockard*,

Jack Londen*, Trinidad Madrigal*,

Margaret Russell*, Fran Strauss, and

Beverly Tucker*.

They will serve a three-year term.

In addition, David Bunnell was ap-

poirited as a Board member to fill the term -

of resigning member Lori Bannai who is

moving to Seattle. Bunnell, a founder of

PCW Communications and former editor-

in-chief of PC World and MacWorld mag-

azines, is now the director of corporate de-

velspment of IDG Communications, Inc.

In 1989, Bunnell launched Glide

Memorial Church's Computer Learning

Center to offer computer training to low-

income people. An ACLU activist from

the Peninsula, Bunnell also led fundraising

in Silicon Valley for the Dukakis presiden-

tial campaign. Bunnell will serve on the

Board until 1992.

Hate a Little Free Time?

If you have a little free time,

you can make a difference in the

battle for civil liberties by volun-

teering with the ACLU-NC

Development Department.

We are looking for volunteers

willing to lend a hand in the office

with mailing, filing, copying, run-

ning errands and a long list of

never-ending tasks.

You'll find that volunteering at

the ACLU will bring you in con-

tact with like-minded folks and

the conversation is never dull!

If you are interested and

have some time during office

hours (yen-F, 9-5), please call

Membership Director Sandy

Holmes at 415/621-2493.

S

support of the Civil Rights Act of 1990.

ACLU-NC Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich (r.) and Associate Director Martha

Kegel joined a massive picket in front of Senator Wilson's San Francisco office in

|

Ann Rushing

Californians, were denied meetings with

Wilson who ended up voting against th

legislation.

Eva Paterson, Chair of the Bay Area

Civil Rights Coalition, warned, "The ad-

ministration is still pressuring the

Congressional conference committee to

`de-fang' the bill. The changes they are

proposing would take out crucial protec-

Budget Axe Hits Poor,

Access to Rights

by Francisco Lobaco

ACLU Legislative Advocate

nding the longest budget stalemate

HR in recent memory, Governor

George Deukmejian signed the

state budget for the 1990-91 fiscal year on

August 1. While the ACLU won a -mjor

victory in obtaining a budget without re-

strictions on Medi-Cal abortion funds for

the first time since 1977 (see article page

1), the Budget Act as a whole will have a

devastating impact on large segments of

the population including the poor, the

mentally ill, and those in need of health

and welfare services.

"When the budget is balanced on the

backs of the poor, it impacts the most vul-

nerable sectors of society," said ACLU

Legislative Director Margaret Pefia.

"People's rights are in jeopardy as their

access to adequate health care, shelter and

justice is curtailed."

Faced with a $3.6 billion deficit, legis-

lators and the Governor engaged in a long

and often times bitter debate on how best

to resolve the fiscal crisis. Maintaining the

state's level of services for our rapidly in-

creasing population has become more dif-

ficult as our tax system fails to meet the

growing demands. -

Recognizing this dilemma, many

Democrats sought to increase revenues as

part of an overall budget agreement.

However, Deukmejian along with other

Republicans, particularly those in the

Assembly, sought to balance the budget

solely through cuts. In the end, though

both sides had to compromise, the large

majority of the deficit was made up

through budget cuts.

"California's least powerful people

bore the brunt of the Legislature's and

Govemor's cuts," explained Pefia. Despite

the fact that purchasing power for AFDC

recipients has dropped 20% over the last

ten years, the Legislature suspended for

one year the cost-of-living increases for

AFDC and other welfare recipients includ-

ing the aged, blind and disabled. "This

suspension was actually a defeat for the

tions for women and minority workers.

And Bush is still threatening a veto if a

strong bill emerges from the conference

committee."

The ACLU is urging all members to

keep pressure on Congress to keep the

measure in tact - and to oppose a presi-

dential veto of the Civil Rights Act of

1990.

Governor," Pefia said, "He wanted to

completely eliminate the automatic cost-

of-living increases currently in statute."

The slashing of the health programs

for the poor, will make it even more diffi-

cult for the over 5 million Californians

without health insurance to have access to

care for basic health needs. Likewise, mil-

lions of dollars for community health ser-

vices were vetoed by the Governor. "This

could result in a 75% increase in mentally

ill homeless people on the streets," she

said.

Open government

One of the less publicized changes is

suspension of the law that requires city

councils and boards of supervisors to post

notices of meetings 72 hours in advance

and allow time during meetings for citi-

zens to make comments. The state will

save $2 million in reimbursement costs

for copying and posting services, but it

will now be up to local governments to

provide this service to citizens.

Newsrack

Bill Defeated

he ACLU won an important First

Amendment legislative victory in

June when SB 1962 (Ayala) was

defeated in the Assembly Public Safety

Committee. The bill sought to censor sex-

ually explicit materials and restrict what

adults could read by banning the sale of

harmful matter in vending machines lo-

cated in public areas.

The bill was similar to AB 2023

(Ferguson) which the ACLU had defeated

in the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier

this year. However, only two months lat-

er, SB 1692 was passed out of the same

Committee when two Democrats

switched their votes. The reason for the

switch? The new bill, unlike the earlier

one, was being carried by a Democrat fac-

_ ing a tough reelection campaign and its

passage was deemed important to his ree-

lection. But SB 1962 was finally defeated

in' the Assembly Committee when

Assembly-member Tom Bates, who had

voted in favor of AB 2023, changed his

position and voted against the bill.

_ According to ACLU Legislative

Director Margaret Pefia, "It was the con-

centrated lobbying effort by our legisla-

tive office combined with an extremely

effective grassroots lobbying campaign

by ACLU miembers in Bates's district

which turned the tide."

The Berkeley - Albany - Richmond -

Kensington Chapter targeted Bates's vote

by sending a mailing to all members ask-

ing them to urge the Assemblymember to

oppose the bill because of its serious First

Amendment implications. In addition,

Julie Houk of the B-A-R-K Chapter,

Alissa Friedman of the Gay Rights

Chapter and ACLU-NC Board Chair Lee

Halterman had a face-to-face meeting

with Assemblyman Bates about the bill.

"This important victory reinforces my be-

lief that active lobbying by ACLU mem-

bers at the grassroots level can make a

substantial impact on legislation," Pefia

said.

Lea ae ee ee a

Finally, and of particular concern to the

ACLU, is the complete elimination of

funds used by the state to reimburse

counties for the preparation and defense

for indigents facing the death penalty.

These funds are generally used for investi-

gation and expert witnesses. The

Legislature cut the $13 million fund during

last-minute budget negotiations.

While some counties may be able to

fund an adequate defense, others will cer-

tainly not have the funds to do so. The re-

sult of leaving the decisions to each county

will arbitrarily deny an adequate defense in

some counties. The likely result will be re-

versals on appeal because of inadequate

defense which will end up costing the state

more money in the long run. The ACLU

will be lobbying the Legislature to restore

these essential funds.

liberties.

addition to your will.

Northern California.

A Will To Give To The ACLU

For more than half a century, the ACLU of Northern California has

fought to defend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Through the pag-

es of history - redbaiting, vigilantes, WWII internment camps, HUAC, the

Free Speech Movement, Vietnam, civil rights, the fight for legal abortion,

gay rights and more - the ACLU has pioneered the fight for individual

You can do something now to insure that the ACLU will continue to

fight - and win - ten, twenty, and fifty years from now, through a simple

Every year thoughtful civil libertarians have provided important sup-

port for the ACLU through their bequests.

Making a bequest is simple: you need only specify a dollar gift or a por-

tion of your estate for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of

If you would like information about writing a will or want additional in-

formation, consult your attorney or contact:

Cheri Bryant, Bequests

ACLU Foundation of Northern California

1663 Mission Street, Suite 460, San Francisco 94103

Telephone: 415/621-2493.

aclu news

aug-sept 1990 7

Program for Imprisoned Mothers and Children

which allows eligible low security

women prisoners with children

under the age of six to serve their sentenc-

es in community settings with their chil-

dren, will now be fully implemented as

the result of a settlement in a lawsuit

brought by Legal Services for Prisoners

with Children and the ACLU affiliates of

T he Mother-Infant Care Program,

Northern and Southern California.

The taxpayers suit, Rios v. Rowland,

filed in 1985 in Sacramento Superior

Court challenged the California

Department of Corrections' (CDC) failure

to implement a low security alternative to

incarceration for women with children.

The lawsuit charged that the CDC

failed to provide adequate notice of the

ACLU Challenge Lifts Ban

on Bart Simpson T-Shirt

' T hen Redding Nova High

School ninth grader Charles

Sullivan Wall was disciplined

for wearing a Bart Simpson T-shirt, he not

only refused to follow the Dean of

Students' order to turn the shirt inside out,

he and his father contacted the ACLU-NC.

Wall's rights were vindicated when, in

response to a letter from ACLU-NC staff

attomey Alan Schlosser, Nova High

School Principal Donald M. Demsher stat- _

ed, "Using Education Code 48907 as the

standard, there is probably no alternative

but to allow Charles to wear the shirt with-

out prejudice if he chooses to do so."

"California law clearly guarantees stu-

dents the right to freedom of expression,"

explained Schlosser. He noted that

California Education Code Section 48907

includes "the wearing of buttons, badges

and other insignia" as part of the right of

freedom of speech; the only expression

that can be prohibited is that which is "ob-

scene, libelous, or slanderous."

Wall's T-shirt had a picture of the pop-

ular TV cartoon character and the slogan

"Hi, I'm Bart Simpson. Who the hell are

you?" printed on it. Wall, who had to stay

in the Dean's office and miss his after-

noon classes because of the T-shirt, point-

ed out that the offending word is a

commonly used epithet that certainly has

been heard at Nova High School, both in

classrooms and outside.

Schlosser told the principal that the

message conveyed by the shirt "is not at

all obscene, libelous, or slanderous." In

his May 23 letter, Principal Demsher

agreed: "I agree that the writing on

Charles' T-shirt was neither libelous,

slanderous or presented a danger to oth-

ers," he wrote to the ACLU.In a follow-

up letter on June 1, Schlosser wrote to the

principal, "It should be clear that the

same rights apply throughout the district

[Shasta Union High School District], and

thus Charles (or any other student) would

have similar rights when he attends

Enterprise High School next year.

"T think it is important for schools to

understand and adhere to the protections

and rights that are embodied in our state

laws and the Constitution," Schlosser

said. "By raising this issue, I think that

Charles has done a service and provided

us all a lesson in good citizenship."

Mt. Davidson...

Continued from page I

tutes a symbolic union of church and state

which violates the establishment clause of

the First Amendment of the USS.

Constitution, and the parallel clause of the

California Constitution.

Religious preference

"In addition, the presence of the cross

on public land constitutes a religious pref-

erence and an aid to religion in violation

of the California Constitution," the lawsuit

charges.

ACLU-NC staff attorney Margaret

Crosby explained, "We are bringing this

case to protect the religious liberty of all

people in the Bay Area. The government's

display of the Mt. Davidson cross broad-

casts a message that it considers some re-

ligious beliefs worthier than others.

"In San Francisco, with its pluralistic

population, people of all faiths should feel

welcome in public parks," Crosby added.

Highest peak

The presence of the cross has been a

controversy for many years. Since 1934,

the 103-foot high concrete and steel cross

has been permanently affixed to the top of

Mt. Davidson. The cross stands alone on

the highest peak in San Francisco (the

summit is 927 feet high) and is the largest

cross in the United States. In the past, the

cross has been illuminated during Easter

week. ;

Despite repeated efforts by Americans

United, the ACLU-NC, the AJC and many

individuals, the City has failed to take any

action to divest itself from the ownership,

maintenance and display of the cross.

Rather, on February 15, after an in-

tense and often heated hearing, the San

Francisco Recreation and Park

Commission decided to maintain the cross

but not to light it.

Attorney Fred Blum of the American

Jewish Congress,' which lobbied to have

- which the cross

the City divest itself of the property on

stands, called the

Commission`s decision "an act of political

cowardice, in view of the fact that the

City`s display of a large cross in a public

park is plainly unconstitutional."

Plaintiff Richard Spear is one of many

San Franciscans whose home is in contin-

uous view of the cross. "The presence of

the cross destroys my ability to quietly en-

joy my residence, and constantly reminds

me that my government is endorsing relig-

ious beliefs contrary to my own."

Pastor James Lowder of Dolores Street

Baptist Church also will not utilize the

park because he is "offended by the per-

ception that the cross`s presence on public

land suggests endorsement by government

of this preeminent symbol of the Christian

faith and further represents a symbolic un-

ion of church and state."

Second-class citizens

Buddhist priest Ron Nakasone also

avoids Mt. Davidson.

"I feel that the ownership of the cross

by the city sends a message that the Bay

Area is a Christian community and that

members of non-Christian faiths are sec-

ond-class citizens whose views are disfa-

vored," Nakasone said.

The lawsuit is asking the court to issue

an injunction preventing the defendants

from continued ownership, maintenance

and display of the cross on public land.

Rabbi Bennett noted that as a plaintiff,

"Tt is not my goal to see the cross re-

moved. That cross should be permitted to

stand anywhere, as long as it is not owned

by the City and County or by any other

governmental body."

The court could order the City to sell

or transfer the land, or could order the City

to remove the cross if Mt. Davidson re-

mains a public park. The named defen-

dants are the City and County of San

Francisco, the San Francisco Recreation

and Park Commission and Mary Burns,

General. Manager of the San Francisco

County Recreation and Park Department.

program's existence, imposed unnecessari-

ly restrictive eligibility requirements,

failed to provide an adequate number of

community facilities, and denied prisoners

the benefits to which they were entitled.

Earlier in the course of the lawsuit, plain-

tiffs successfully obtained a Temporary

Restraining Order which allowed several

eligible pregnant women prisoners be

placed in the program with their newborns

immediately after birth.

Ellen Barry of Legal Services for

Prisoners with Children and lead counsel

in the case said, "This settlement is a ma-

jor step forward for women prisoners and

their children. The Mother-Infant Care

Program is an exciting, innovative and ef-

fective program which greatly benefits the

children of women prisoners as well as the

mothers.

"In addition," Barry noted, "it partially

addresses the extreme overcrowding of

California women's prisons, all of which

are at over 200 percent of capacity."

' Under the terms of the May Settlement

Agreement, the CDC is required to notify

all women of the MIC program within one

week of their being taken into custody; al-

ow pregnant women to submit applica-

tions prior to delivery; maintain regional

waiting lists of eligible prisoner-

applicants; and train staff responsible for

processing prisoner applications.

In addition, a statewide coordinator for

the MIC will be designated and a child

care coordinator will be designated for

each facility. The settlement requires that

a copy of the agreement be included in

the orientation materials for newly trans-

fered prisoners and be posted in all CDC

institutions housing women who are po-

tential applicants to the MIC program

Roadblocks

"The terms of the agreement will ad-

dress all the roadblocks that existed in the

MIC program," said Rebecca Jurado of

the ACLU-SC. "The program has come a

long way from an original one facility to

seven at present. We are certain that as

applications are processed it will become

clear to the CDC that the program should

be substantially expanded."

ACLU-NC staff. counsel Alan

Schlosser noted that expansion had al-

ready been recommended by the Blue

Ribbon Commission on _ Inmate

Population Management in a 1990 report.

"This program is very important as par-

ticipants have a recidivism rate of 20 per-

cent below average," Schlosser said.

The suit was brought on behalf of

four pregnant women prisoners and four

incarcerated mothers with young children

who were housed at the California

Institute for Women in Frontera and the

California Rehabiliation Center in Norco,

and a California taxpayer Nancy Stoller

Shaw. The prisoners charged that they

were not informed about the MIC pro-

gram, and would only discover its exis-

tence through conversations with other

women prisoners.

The lawsuit was consolidated with a

companion case, Maria G. v. Rowland,

filed on behalf of the prisoners' children

by attorney Carol Shauffer of the Youth

Law Center.

Volunteers Launch Bill of

Bill of Rights Campaign Chair Marlene De Lancie (center with sunglasses),

Rights Campaign

Membership Director Sandy Holmes (at microphone) and Campaign Committee

members encouraged activists to become fundraisers at the Campaign kick-off.

reception at the Annual Conference.

Ann Rushing

hile dining on midsummer

strawberries and chardonnay at

an afternoon reception during

the Annual Conference, enthusiastic

ACLU members signed up for the annual

Bill of Rights Campaign. The grassroots

fundraising effort will be launched on

September 11.

"Civil liberties battles never stay won,"

said Campaign Chair Marlene De Lancie,

"so we always have a need for more vol-

unteers. Members who have one free eve-

ning in September to donate to the

campaign can make a big difference in

strengthening our efforts for civil liber-

ties," De Lancie said.

To volunteer for the Bill of Rights

Campaign, please call ACLU-NC

Membership Coordinator Sandy

Holmes at 415/621-2493.

aclu news

aug-sept 1990

`Taking Liberties"

A monthly radio program on civil liberties

KPFA 94.1 FM

and `

_ KFCF 88.1 FM (Fresno)

WES

ACLU

Conference ...

Continued from page 5

Police Officers Association, addressed the

racial impact of the death penalty. Blacks

comprise 12% of the general population in

- the United States, yet 40% of the inmates

on Death Row are African-American.

"That's why the NBPOA opposes the

death penalty - because it affects us so

deeply.

"As a working police officer - we're

there where the `rubber meets the road' -

I can tell you that the death penalty is no

deterrent. If it were, we wouldn't have po-

lice departments," said Hampton to thun-

derous applause.

Wine and strawberries

As with any gathering of ACLU acti-

` vists, however, the conference was not all

serious discussion. Some would say the

fun began when the Saturday evening out-

door plenary was jolted by an abrupt

shower as the Conference Center sprink-

lers suddenly blasted the gardens - and

the audience - at 9:00 PM sharp. That

watery interruption sent conference goers

indoors - to safety and the sounds of

Third Party, a rhythm and blues dance

band featuring ACLU-NC Board Chair

Halterman on guitar.

A wine and strawberry reception host-

ed by the Bill of Rights Campaign

launched that grassroots fundraising effort

A Te Be dial to "Taking Liberties!"

Wednesday, September 26 at

7:00 PM

Church and State in the Bay

Area: Controversy over the

Mt. Davidson Cross, School

Prayer, and the

Year of Bible Reading.

"Taking Liberties", explores how the

Bill of Rights affects our everyday lives.

The series is aired on KPFA and KFCF in

Fresno.

The monthly program, hosted by

ACLU-NC Public Information Director

Elaine Elinson, includes expert guests on

cutting edge civil liberties questions. It al-

so features a special section with civil lib-

erties news updates and information on

how listeners can make their voices heard

on crucial civil liberties issues.

with a raffle and an enthusiastic recruit-

ment talk from Campaign Chair Marlene

De Lancie.

The 1990 Annual Conference was de-

dicated to the memory of Douglas Warner,

activist, chapter leader, and organizer ex-

traordinaire, 1952-1990.

The Conference, which was hosted by

the B-A-R-K Chapter of the ACLU-NC,

was organized by Field Representative

Marcia Gallo and the 1990 Conference

Planning Committee chaired by Richard

Grosboll; members of the Planning

Committee included Teresa Friend of the

Gay Rights Chapter, Ethel Long-Scott of

the ACLU-NC Board, Tom Sarbaugh of

the B-A-R-K Chapter, and Fran Strauss,

Chair of the Student Outreach Committee.

The hardworking Conference Crew,

the team which enabled the whole week-

end to run smoothly, was led by Gallo and

included Program Assistant Michele

Hurtado and volunteers Ashley Dunning,

Erika Etelson, Christina Huskey, Julie

Lifshay, Michael Pilatti, Ann Rushing,

Suzanne Samuel, and Leah Such.

Childcare was done by Adelle Hurtado

and Sign Interpreters were Catherine

Anderson and Phil LaBarbera.

A commemorative T-shirt, with a logo

designed by Michael Cox, became a popu-

lar conference souvenier. The white shirts

with black conference logo and are still

available in sizes Small and ExtraLarge.

To order, send $12.00 (per shirt) to

ACLU-NC Conference T-shirt, 1663

Mission Street, #460, San Francisco, CA

94103, attn: Marcia Gallo.

Estes, Friedman Garner

Chapter Awards

Milton Estes was honored by the

Marin County Chapter with the

Barney Dreyfus Civil Liberties Award for

his outstanding contributions to the fight

for civil liberties. Estes, a Marin County

physician, is the Chair of the ACLU-NC

Development Committee and has served

the Board of Directors as a Chapter

Representative and an at-large member for

several years.

The North Peninsula Chapter honored

[: June, ACLU-NC Board member

posthumously Howard Friedman with its

Meta Kauffman-Roy Archibald Civil

Liberties Award at its Annual Awards

Luncheon in June in San Mateo.

Friedman, a renowned architect, served as

the Chair of the ACLU-NC Board of

Directors from 1961-65. The event also in-

cluded presentations by ACLU-NC

Executive Director Dorothy Ehrlich and

Bay Area Civil Rights Coalition Chair Eva

Jefferson Paterson.

Earl

Field Program Monthly

Meetings

Chapter

Meetings

(Chapter meetings are open to all inter-

ested members. Contact the chapter acti-

vist listed for your area.)

B-A-R-K_ (Berkeley-Albany-Richmond-

Kensington) Chapter Meeting:

(Usually fourth Thursday) Meetings on

Thursday, September 27 and Thursday,

October 25 at 7:00 PM Contact Tom

Sarbaugh 415/526-6376 (day) or

Florence Piliavin 415/848-5195 (eve).

} Warren (Oakland/Alameda

County) Chapter Meeting: (Usually

second Wednesday) Meetings on

Wednesday, September 12 and

Wednesday, October 10 at 7:30 PM,

1121 Ashmount Avenue, Oakland.

Focus on Police Practices. Contact Abe

Feinberg, 415/451-1122.

Fresno Chapter Meeting: (Usually

third Monday) Meetings on Monday,

September 17 and Monday, October 15

at San Joaquin Law School, 3385 E.

Shields, Fresno. New members always

welcome! For more information, please

call the Chapter Hotline 209/225-7380

or contact Gary Waldron, 209/221-1114

(eve.)

Gay Rights Chapter Meeting: (Usually

first Thursday) Meet Thursday,

September 6 and Thursday, October 4.

Both meetings at 1663 Mission, #460,

San Francisco at 7:00 PM. Annual

Meeting on Sunday, September 9, from

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM. Help the Chapter

staff information tables at the Castro

Street Fair and the Folsom Street Fair.

For more information, contact. Mike

Williams, 415/845-4777.

Marin County Chapter Meeting:

(Third Monday) Monday, September 17

and Monday, October 15 at 7:30 PM,

Round Table Pizza Conference Room,

Strawberry Canyon Shopping Center,

Mill Valley. Election of new Chair at

September meeting. For more informa-

tion, contact Jerry Ellersdorfer, 415/ -

383-1074.

Mid-Peninsula (Palo Alto area)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Wednesday) Call for date and time of

September meeting. Annual Meeting,

Tuesday, October 2 from 7:30 PM - 9:30

PM at the Palo Alto Cultural Center,

Green Room, Embarcadero and Newell

_Streets, Palo Alto. Guest Speaker: The

Honorable Len Edwards, Presiding

Judge of Santa Clara Juvenile Court,

speaking on "Children and _ the

Constitution." The event is free and is

open to all ACLU members and the pub-

lic. For more information, contact Harry

Anisgard, 415/856-9186 or Leona

Billings, 415/326-0926.

Monterey County Chapter Meeting:

(First Tuesday of the month) Meet

Tuesday, September 4 and Tuesday,

October 2 at 7:30 PM at the Monterey

Library, Pacific and Jefferson Streets,

Monterey. For more information, con-

tact Richard Criley, 408/624-7562.

Mt. Diablo (Contra Costa County)

Chapter Meeting: (Now fourth

Thursday) Meet Thursday, September

27 at 7:30 PM. For time and place of

October meeting and more information,

contact Mildred Starkie, 415/934-0557.

Calling all teachers: are you interested

in working with the chapter on a "civil

liberties essay contest" for students? If

so, contact Mildred Starkie, number

above.

North Peninsula (San Mateo area)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually third

Monday) Meet Monday, September 17

and Monday, October 15 at 7:30 PM,

Bank of America, Third and El Camino,

San Francisco Chapter

(Usually fourth Monday) Meet Monday,

San Mateo. Contact Emily Skolnick, 340-

9834. Note: The North Pen Chapter

has a new Hotline number: 579-1789.

The Chapter Student Outreach Comittee

needs help organizing a high school es-

say contest on the Bill of Rights. Contact

Neil Kelly, 415/595-6156 (eves).

North Valley (Shasta, Siskiyou,

Tehema, and _ Trinity Counties)

Chapter Meeting: (Usually fourth

Wednesday) For more information con-

tact Frank Treadway, 916/365-4336 or

916/241-7725,

Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually second Wednesday) Meet

Wednesday, September 12 at 7:00 PM.

Call for October date and place. Annual

Potluck Meeting on October 5 at

Unitarian Church, 2425 Sierra Blvd. at

7:00 PM. Guest Speaker, Michael

Laurence, Director, ACLU-NC Death

Penalty Project. For location and more

information, contact Ruth Ordas, 916/

488-9950.

Meeting:

September 17 and Monday, October 15

7:00 PM at ACLU office, 1663 Mission,

#460, San Francisco. The Chapter has

just reorganized and is seeking members

to participate in a variety of issue-related

committees. For more information, con- -

tact David Scott, 415/285-8831 or Lee

Seville, 415/681-4747.

Santa Clara Valley Chapter Meeting:

(Usually first Tuesday) Meet Tuesday,

September 4 and October 2 at 7:00 PM,

Commerce Bank Building, 111 West St.

John Street, 2nd Floor Conference Room,

San Jose. Contact John Holly, 408/554-

9478.

Santa Cruz County Chapter Meeting:

Meet on Tuesday, September 18 at

Louden Nelson Center. Guest speaker:

_ Marge Frantz, Professor of American

Studies at UC Santa Cruz, will speak on

"The Gathering Storm." The event is free

and open to all ACLU members and the

public. Contact Sy Schwartz, 408/462-

2093, for further information.

Sonoma County Chapter Meeting:

(Third Thursday of the month) Meet

Thursday, September 20 and Thursday,

October 18, 7:30 PM, 821 Mendocino

Ave, Santa Rosa. All members welcome.

Contact Fran Byrn, 707/546-3237.

Yolo County Chapter Meeting: (Third

Thursday of the month) For more infor-

mation, contact Doug Powers, 916/756-

8274.

Field

Committee

Meetings

(All meetings except those noted will

`be held at the ACLU-NC Office, 1663

Mission Street, Suite 460, San Francisco.

To RSVP, or for more information, con-

tact Marcia Gallo or Michele Hurtado at

the ACLU-NC 415/621-2493.

Student Outreach Committee: (Usually

third Saturday) Meet Saturday,

September 15 and Saturday, October 20

from 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Attention

Teachers: Please join our committee as

we plan for September, 1990!

Pro-Choice Action Campaign: (Usually

third Tuesday) Meet Tuesday, September

18 and Tuesday, October 16 at 6:30 PM.

Death Penalty Action Campaign: Next

meeting on Saturday, September 15,

from 12:30 PM. to 2:00 PM. Guest

speaker to be announced.